Chapter 122: The Hidden Survivor

The unfamiliar designation continued to flicker above the research station’s holographic display, casting a pale glow over the room.

[ORIGINAL SOURCE-BEARER: CONFIRMED.]

Raviah stared at the floating characters, her mind racing as she pieced together the fragments of the memory. Before she could reconstruct the full recording, the projection collapsed into a fine shower of silver particles that dissolved into the air.

"Elias, preserve every fragment of that scan," she commanded, turning her attention back to the primary terminal. "I want a complete reconstruction attempt once we return to the main lab."

"Already backed up," Elias replied, his voice humming through the channel. "However, Raviah, I strongly recommend we leave the central crystalline column alone until we fully understand its feedback effects."

"Agreed," she said, stepping back from the pedestal.

An alarm interrupted them, cutting through the facility.

"General Drakeheir," an officer reported through the comm link. "Our underground scanners have picked up a heat signature beneath the eastern residential district. It is a single human-sized life sign. The signal is weak, but stable."

Raviah turned toward Rhyder, who was reviewing the perimeter reports.

"A survivor?" she asked, watching his dark eyebrows pull together.

"Possibly," Rhyder answered, signaling his squad to standby. He glanced back at the communicator. "How long has the signal been present?"

"It appeared only after the city’s energy network activated, General," the officer reported.

Rhyder issued orders without hesitation, his tone leaving no room for debate. "Deploy a small security unit. No heavy weapons unless there is a confirmed threat. Raviah, you will remain behind the escort."

With a flick of her wrist, she retrieved her medical kit from her spatial dimension. The gear materialized seamlessly into her hands.

"I will examine the survivor if they are injured," she stated plainly.

Rhyder gave her a familiar, resigned look, though a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes. "Of course you will."

Within minutes, the team departed for the eastern residential district.

They found a concealed entrance hidden beneath the collapsed floor of an abandoned transit station. The passage descended through crumbling layers of concrete before opening into a narrow tunnel lined with crystalline formations.

Their violet light cast long shadows, illuminating rusted emergency markings and abandoned equipment. The deeper they traveled into the earth, the stronger the underground energy became.

Raviah felt her Root reacting to the atmosphere, but the sensation differed from the broad grid above. This energy gathered around a single focal point, maintaining a steady, deliberate rhythm despite the surrounding instability.

"Someone has been living down here," she observed, tracing her fingers near the glowing wall.

Rhyder crouched beside a row of metal containers arranged carefully against the rock. Several held preserved food, emergency medical supplies, and basic water filtration components.

"The supplies are old," he said, inspecting a rusted lid. "But they have been maintained with care."

At the end of the passage, they were met by a reinforced shelter door.

Rhyder signaled his soldiers to take defensive positions before knocking twice against the reinforced metal.

"We are from Sol Haven," he called out, his voice echoing in the narrow corridor. "We detected your life sign. We are not here to harm you."

A silence followed his words.

Then, a voice emerged from the darkness behind the steel plating.

"How many of you are carrying Cores?"

Rhyder’s expression tightened as he adjusted his stance.

"That depends on why you are asking," he replied cautiously.

"Because if you bring unstable energy into this shelter, everyone inside will die," the voice answered grimly.

Raviah took a step forward, placing herself beside Rhyder. "We are not here to contaminate your shelter. I am a doctor, and if you are injured, I can help."

Another long pause stretched between them before the sound of turning gears echoed through the wall.

The door opened a few inches, releasing a gust of stale air.

An elderly man peered through the narrow gap. His hair was almost entirely white, and his face bore deep lines carved by decades of hardship. Yet his eyes were startlingly clear, ringed with faint silver light.

He carefully studied the armed soldiers before fixing his gaze directly on Raviah.

The moment his eyes met hers, his guard dropped.

It was not surprise that filled his face.

It was recognition.

"Come in," he said quietly, stepping back to pull the door wide.

The shelter was far larger than the cramped tunnel suggested. Its interior contained functional sleeping quarters, a compact laboratory, shelves of organized supplies, and a wall covered in hand-drawn diagrams of the crystalline network.

Raviah immediately noticed that the crystals embedded in these walls did not emit the violent violet glow seen elsewhere. Instead, they pulsed with a subdued, gentle silver light.

"You modified the energy pathways," she observed, coming to a halt before the display.

The old man nodded slowly. "They were killing everything that lived near them. I learned how to redirect the fluctuations before the main network consumed this shelter."

"You understand these structures?" she asked.

"I understand enough to survive," he answered.

Raviah stepped closer to inspect the nearest schematic. Its branching patterns mirrored the vast grid beneath the city, but several major sections had been deliberately severed.

"What is your Root?" she asked, looking back at him.

The man raised his right hand into the space between them.

A thin silver thread emerged from his fingertips, splitting into delicate strands that passed straight through the wall crystals without disturbing them. For an instant, Raviah felt faint impressions of energy flowing through the surrounding stone before the thread vanished entirely.

"Memory," he said softly. "Or something close enough. My Root allows me to perceive and preserve traces of information carried by elemental energy."

Raviah’s breath hitched as her pulse quickened.

The crystalline memories.

The facility.

The recording of herself standing beneath a crimson sky.

"How long have you lived down here?" Rhyder asked, keeping a protective arm near Raviah.

"Since the first apocalypse," the survivor replied.

The room fell instantly silent.

"That was years ago," an officer murmured, casting a doubtful look at the man.

The old man did not falter. "I know exactly how long it has been."

Raviah studied his posture, searching his eyes for any sign of deception. His Root was unusual, but its energy signature remained perfectly stable. More importantly, he understood the crystalline network in ways even Elias had not yet mastered.

"Then you may know something about the memories stored within this city," she said.

The old man’s expression grew solemn as he folded his hands.

"I know why the crystals remember the dead," he said, his silver-ringed eyes locking onto hers. "I know why the city awakened when you arrived, and I know why the ancient facility recognized you."

Raviah drew a slow, steady breath.

"Then tell me."

He took a step closer, his unusual Root shimmering faintly in the cool air.

For the first time, his calm demeanor gave way to an emotion that resembled fear.

"Raviah Solomon," he whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "I remember you from before you were born."